Gemma Doyle Returns
by ElyMorgaine
Summary: What if the realms just vanished one day? Kartik, Virginia Doyle, Pippa and Sarah Rees Tome are out of the newly vanished realms and are looking for the now 21 year old Gemma Doyle. They need her to restore the realms and master them once again before a great evil escapes. (PLOT BUNNY- FIRST CHAPTER FULLY WRITTEN, UP FOR ADOPTION IF WANTED. REVIEW FOR ME TO CONTINUE).


**A/N: I've wanted to write a GDT story for a while, but I haven't had the time to. So to quench my GDT thirst, I've written a first chapter/plot bunny for a potential story. I would like someone to adopt this, or if I receive reviews asking me to continuing- I could be easily persuaded. I would be a slow updater due to university and trying to finish Libba Bray's latest novel, 'The Diviners' (It's brilliant!), but I will try. Comment/message me if you want to adopt!**

PROMPT: What if the realms just vanished one day? Kartik, Virginia Doyle, Pippa and Sarah Rees Tome are out of the newly vanished realms and are looking for the now 21 year old Gemma Doyle. They need her to restore the realms before a great evil escapes and master them once again.

* * *

My journey back to London was not an easy one. It was not the voyage between the continents which caused me so much trouble, but the journey I had when I arrived in London. Tom had promised to pick me up from the docks, yet he didn't bother to grace me with his presence. Being the university-educated, able woman I now am, I decided that I didn't need to Tom's help to travel to the London town house. That was my mistake. Because now I am in a seedy bar, tied to a chair, with the Rakshana looking at me as though I was again, the source of all of their pain. Maybe I was, but I have no recollection of my present misdeed and would prefer them to talk first, before tying me to a chair.

The older, more tanned man out of the group moves to speak first. "So you're the famous Gemma Doyle. The little English girl who saved the realms." He looks at me appraisingly before continuing. "Do you know why you're here little girl? Do you know what has happened during your little trip to America? Do you even care?" Snorts and grunts from the others in the group followed the man's speech. They all think I know something. Something to do with the realms.

"I do not know why I am here and I definitely do not know what is going on. I haven't visited the realms in over three years. It was time for me to focus on the real world, and try to build a life here before I even tried to visit the realms again." I try to say confidently, but in a room full of deadly men, my voice failed and resembled a mouse's squeak instead.

"Little girl, you may have built a life here, but you cannot visit the realms again." He spits out angrily.

I'm a little more than confused, were the Rakshana banning me from going to the realms? They have no right!

"Why? You have no authority to ban me from there!" I shout back at him.

"Ban you child? From what?! There are no more realms. They're gone." He says motionlessly.

My mouth opens, to respond, but closes on its own accord. I don't know what to say. Was this my fault? If I still visited the realms regularly, would they still exist? Could I have prevented this? My mind begins to think about the more pressing matters at hand. The occupants of the realms, past and present, where were they now? The creatures? _Gorgon…_

"The dead, where are they? And the creatures too, have they disappeared?" I ask the old man.

"The creatures are nowhere to be seen. We do not know their status. And the dead are gone too, except for a select few. People who felt the change in the realm before it turned to nothing and managed to escape before they went away. Powerful people."

The words 'powerful people' were not welcoming to me. The only exceedingly 'powerful people' I have come across were the likes of Sarah Rees Tome aka Circe; a woman who would manipulate me into trusting her for her own gain, even if she proved herself worthy in the end. And Eugenia Spence who manipulated me into sacrificing myself to the Tree of All Souls. 'Powerful' was not a word that I particularly liked.

The elder man makes a beckoning motion directed behind me and I can hear footsteps entering the room. There are more than two pairs of feet making noise. It sounds like there are at least 3 or 4 people, give or take, behind me.

"Welcome Kartik, Mrs Doyle, Mrs Cross." He pauses and arranges his face into a scowl, "and Circe of course."

One of the Rakshana releases me from my binds roughly, leaving red marks on the backs of my hand. And they turn my chair around for me to face my loved ones.

I remain in my seat silently, not knowing where to begin. I cannot believe it. All of the people who I have lost were now standing in front of me. Kartik still looks the same; thankfully nothing had changed him in his time spent in the realms. The same could be said for my mother. Her face remained the same as the day we said goodbye to one-another. Pippa's face however, still had the Winterlands' taint to it. Her teeth have not returned to their normal setting and her eyes are now completely black. She is still beautiful. I turn to Mrs Moore next. I say Mrs Moore and not Circe, because standing in this light, she looks like the teacher I loved and respected. She was the woman who helped me save the realms.

Kartik broke the silence and started smiling.

"It's been a while Gem-. " I cut him off and press my lips against his. I know it's un-ladylike and it's inappropriate to practice such behaviour in the presence of strangers, let alone my mother, but it was him. He came back to me.

The sounds of the Rakshana's wolf-whistles fill the bar, but I cannot bring myself to care. This was Kartik.

He broke the kiss and holds me. I had dreamt of this every day since I saw him last, my arms could not leave him now.

My mother started clearing her throat. "I see that you're a grown lady now Gemma." She smiles sweetly and I look up to meet her smile.

"Mother, I've missed you so much." I unlatch myself from Kartik and throw myself into my mother. I start to cry.

She begins to stroke my hair slowly and I feel her tears on my scalp and my own on her shoulder. "I know Gemma, I know."

She lifts my head from her should and gently wipes away my tears. She stares at me for a couple of seconds and whispers, "My Gemma" quietly. I nod and smile. I understand what she means. The last time she saw me, I was a stubborn, teenage girl; now my mother sees the woman I've become.


End file.
